1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system signal connector housings, and more particularly to a system and method for a printed circuit board host plug Serial ATA signal connector protective housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems typically include a number of components that communicate information between each other as electrical signals sent over buses. For example, the Serial ATA industry standard defines signals to transfer information between components, such as a hard disk drive and a central processing unit (CPU), over cables. One conventional configuration of processing components is to provide a separate interface card for supporting Serial ATA connections, such as through the PCI slot typically included in information handling systems. Alternatively, in order to eliminate the need for a separate interface card, Serial ATA connectors are placed directly on a printed circuit board (PCB), such as an information handling system's motherboard, with a right-angle mount using Surface-Mounted Technique (SMT). SMT typically secures the Serial ATA connector to the PCB with board locks coupled to the connector and soldered to the PCB. However, this mounting scheme uses additional equipment, such as placement nozzles, to ensure correct attachment of the connector to the PCB. The Serial ATA Specification does not define PCB mounting features.
One difficulty with direct mounting of a Serial ATA connector to a PCB is that the SMT board locks and electrical solder connections fail if excessive force is applied to the connector. For instance, insertion and removal forces applied to the connector from mating and unmating cables sometimes break the locks to allow separation of the connector from the PCB or fracture the solder to degrade or prevent signal transfers between the connector and the PCB. Vertical forces applied to the connector or to a cable secured to a connector increase the vulnerability to SMT secured connector failure both during assembly of the information handling system at initial manufacture or during addition of components after manufacture and shipment of an information handling system. As an example, an SMT Serial ATA connector secured with retention solder pads and not board locks tends to separate from a PCB with the application of as little as 2.3 lbs of force since the securing solder pads are constrained by the connector's size and available PCB surface area. If board locks are used to hold the connector to the PCB, separation of the connector from the PCB is less likely, however, a vertical force of approximately 3.8 lbs against a typical Serial ATA connector mating tongue will often result in failure of the mating tongue itself. When failure of an SMT Serial ATA connector occurs during manufacture, the typical fix is to replace the PCB, thus increasing the manufacturing costs due to scrap. When failure of an SMT Serial ATA connector occurs after manufacture, such as due to consumer addition of a Serial ATA peripheral, the complete information handling system may have to be replaced.